Men look to rebound tonight against Keene State

After one of the worst two-game stretches in Tufts' basketball history, the men's basketball team looks to regain its confidence heading into next weekend's NESCAC competition.

Last weekend Tufts played against two of the top 11 Division III teams in the nation and lost by scores of 74-52 against Trinity and 99-54 against Amherst.

The first chance to rebound will come tonight, when Tufts faces another nationally ranked team, the Keene State Owls.

"We're going to come out flying tonight," coach Bob Sheldon said. "We love playing at home, and have played most of our best games this season in our own building. We have a different edge when we play at home so I know we'll be okay."

The Owls are currently ranked 24th in the nation, with an overall record of 16-3. The squads have played five common teams, with the Owls going 6-0 and the Jumbos going 4-1, the loss by 35 points, 91-56, to Plymouth State early in the season.

The Owls are led by their three explosive seniors, forwards Chris Timson and Matt Wheeler, and point guard Alphonse Michalski. Timson leads the team in scoring with 16.8 points per night along with seven rebounds, while Michalski leads the team in minutes played with almost 32 per contest. In those 32 minutes, Michalski chips in with 15.1 points and a team-leading six assists. Wheeler is third on the team in scoring with 12.1 a night, and leads the team in rebounding with nearly eight per game.

"We're going to tailor our practice towards them because they are a much shorter and quicker team than we are that likes to press," Sheldon said. "We have to work on not throwing the ball away and being more of a team."

The Jumbos will have to stifle Keene's high powered offensive attack if they want to have a chance of coming away with a victory. The Owls average 81 points per contest, while holding their opponents to just under 70. In contrast, the Jumbos only average 65.4 points per game, but allow their opponents to net just over 75 a night.

The relatively strong Jumbo defense will have to start in the middle with sophomore twin towers Blaine Lay and Dan Martin. Lay has consistently been one of the most effective on-the-block defenders in the NESCAC. The Jumbos will need his inside presence, along with Martin's, to control the Owl's big men Wheeler and classmate Brandon Johanson.

The Jumbos will also rely on junior forward Reggie Stovell inside to grab rebounds and get easy put-backs on the offensive end. Stovell, however, has been battling a stress fracture that kept him out of action all of first semester, and the injury looked to be bothering him Saturday afternoon at Trinity.

On the perimeter, Tufts will look to the athleticism and hustle of its two seniors, co-captains Deyvehn East and Eric Mack, to control Keene State's inside/outside game. The Owls are a decent shooting team that hoists up a ton of shots, over 65 a game, but Tufts is right behind with 59.2 per night. The Owls drain just above 43 percent of their attempts, including almost a third of their three point tries.

"They love to press so we're going to need to work on not forcing anything," Sheldon said. "Our big men are going to get double and triple teamed so we need to be ready to play against that."

The Jumbos will look to avenge last season's 95-79 loss to the Owls and gain some momentum for their weekend trip to Maine to face NESCAC foes Bowdoin and Colby.

Tip-off is at 7:00 in Cousens Gym.